Happy Holidays! (Also, gradebook being updated as we speak)

Hi, I just wanted to express my thanks and deepest gratitude to the students and parents from both 5s and 5L for the wonderful gifts you got for me during this time of year, a time for rest, reflection, and family (the jacket fits! 🙂 I feel like Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future :-p, thank you so much)!

I always feel uncomfortable whenever people do nice things for me and this year is no different, I just wanted to let you all know how proud and privileged I feel to be able to teach your children day in and day out, to provide them with a challenging, well-rounded education that I know they wouldn’t be receiving elsewhere, especially at this age.

I know we’ve had some ups and downs over these first few months, but now I feel that we’ve hit our stride…students are handing in their work more on time, expectations are being raised and again, most (we need all! 🙂 students are rising to the call for more complete answers on their assignments. I truly believe that once we return in January, we’ll hit the ground running and not look back. 2017 is going to be a good year for us all because we’re beginning to understand the importance of the school-to-home partnership, that my high expectations are tempered by my flexible grading, and that ultimately all students will be prepared for any tests and exams they have in the future, not just this year but in the years ahead as well.

While I know it’s not the answer everyone wants to hear, I firmly believe that the bulk of what I cover w/ my students is not immediately quantifiable, there’s no immediate test or assessment to check for understanding, rather, having them exposed to such a diverse array of topics and discussions is method I use to challenge each child to ask more of themselves, to respect that the minimum is not enough and that to truly understand and appreciate the meaning of success, you must put in the required effort, first, and sometimes failure is the impetus needed for that spark to occur. Nothing is given in my class nor this world, everything is earned, and the sooner our students (and others…) learn this, i know the better off they will be.

Anyway, I just wanted to thank you all once again for your patience and understanding and trust in what we are trying to accomplish this year. Thank you again for thinking of me during this time of year, and my best wishes and prayers go out to each and every one of your families during this holiday season.

Thanks again and enjoy your break!

P.S. – working on the gradebook now, mostly 5S stuff, but I should have it all completed by this weekend though right now you can have a good idea of what your child is missing.